


The End of Joy

by PandaPantsLuvsU



Category: The Two Princes (Podcast)
Genre: It's not as depressing as the title makes it seem, M/M, This happens during the reception, Wenceslaus makes an appearance at the end, heavy discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27787675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaPantsLuvsU/pseuds/PandaPantsLuvsU
Summary: The "24 Hours of Joy" Spell wears off.Rupert and Amir talk.
Relationships: Amir/Rupert (Two Princes Podcast), Rumir (Two Princes Podcast)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 84





	The End of Joy

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to CloudCover for beta reading this!

The fairy’s joy spell had officially worn off.

Rupert could feel it the second it happened, the weight suddenly crushing down on his shoulders, the ache in his heart, the  _ pain _ -

He excused himself from the group of guests and snuck out onto the balcony. He leaned against the railing, letting his head fall and his shoulders droop.  _ Deep breaths _ , he thought to himself.

It wasn’t like the spell had taken his memories from him, but it had taken the negative emotions from them. Before a few moments ago, he could think about the Despair without feeling  _ anything _ . Now, the images from the last few days made his knees threaten to buckle.

He coached himself through his breathing, gripping the rail with sweaty hands. He knew how to do this. He could face the memory, accept how much it hurt, then set it aside. He’d do it over the course of several days and then it would be over.

But there was so much, and he was  _ so tired _ .

And he’d -

“Ru?”

He turned to see Amir standing in the doorway, holding two champagne flutes. His husband.  _ His husband _ . They were married now – that was good, that was happy!

“Hey,” he said.

“You disappeared from the party.”

“I needed some air.” He accepted one of the flutes and took a sip. “You should go back inside, I’ll be fine.”

“Why would I go inside when everything I want is right here?”

Rupert laughed a little, looking away as his face heated. The smile faded as he looked out at their growing kingdom. The sun was just beginning to set behind the buildings, casting an orange halo as the shadows elongated. “Did you feel it too?”

There was a pause. Rupert looked over his shoulder to see Amir staring off into the distance, a faraway look in his eyes. “Yeah,” he finally said. “The spell broke.”

Another moment, then they both started to talk at once.

“Amir, I’m so –”

“Rupert, I need to –”

They both stopped. “Go ahead,” Rupert said. “You first.”

Amir sighed, coming closer to Rupert and taking his hand. “You know what my mother said to me right before we got married?” When Rupert looked at him, he continued, “That communication is the most important thing to keep a marriage healthy and happy.”

“I wish  _ my _ mother had told me that. She told me to get a prenup.”

Amir chuckled. “Like I’m only in this for the money.”

Rupert smiled, putting the champagne flute down and leaning against Amir. “Your mother’s right.”

“She is. She also said that knowing when to apologize is the  _ second _ most important thing. And I – I realized that I owe you one. Well, I owe you  _ a lot _ .”

Rupert turned fully. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been a little too dismissive of your feelings.”

“No, Amir, you –”

“I have. I know I have. I didn’t listen to you when you told me how scared you were of our wedding being threatened. I wrote you off as being dramatic.”

Rupert shifted his feet. “I mean, I  _ do _ tend to overreact to every little thing.”

“No, Ru, you don’t. Given everything that’s happened?  Of course you’d want to take extra precautions. And instead of listening to you I just told you that everything would be fine. I made you feel like you were being paranoid. And that’s not okay.”

Rupert stared down at his shoes. “Oh.”

“I forgot that protecting you also means looking out for your mental health. But I’m going to work on that, I promise. And please don’t be afraid to call me out. I want to be better.” He tilted Rupert’s face up and brushed an errant hair from his face. “I love you so much.”

He leaned down for a kiss but Rupert turned away. “It’s not all on you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not your job to protect me, Amir.”

He laughed a little incredulously. “What are you talking about? Of course it is.”

“Didn’t you  _ just _ say you want to get better at listening to me?” Rupert pulled out of his embrace and turned. “I don’t want you to keep me safe. Not if it means you’re going to keep jumping into the fire for me.”

“But -”

“You can’t keep deciding what’s best for me without my input.” He placed a hand on his ribs, right on the newly-formed scars. They had been much worse the day before, but the fairy had given him  _ a little extra magic  _ to heal any physical wounds gained from fighting against the rope. He hadn’t even  _ noticed _ that he was hurting himself at the time. All he’d cared about was getting free and getting to Amir. “That’s not fair.” His voice wavered.

Amir put a hand on Rupert’s shoulder. Rupert looked down. His hands were shaking. “I just want – I don’t know how  _ not  _ to protect you.”

“You’d better learn.” He finally turned to face Amir. Tears began to fall from his eyes despite his best efforts. “Because I am  _ not _ going to watch you die again.”

And that was it. The pain that had been hiding inside of him for the past twenty-four hours broke free. He ducked his head as he began to cry, burying his face in his hands, silent sobs shaking his whole body.

Amir pulled him into his arms. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Rupert didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He couldn’t remember the last time someone held him when he cried.

But Amir was hugging him so tightly, and it felt so  _ right.  _ He stepped closer, pressing himself into Amir and tucking his forehead against his shoulder. Amir kissed Rupert’s head and rubbed circles into his back.

When most of the tears had subsided, Rupert wiped his eyes and pulled away. “No more self-sacrifice, okay?”

“As long as you stop sacrificing yourself too. You did the same thing in the Hollow.”

Rupert blinked. Then his eyes narrowed. “No. That wasn’t the same.”

“You surrendered.”

“But you still had the option. I gave you permission to kill me. In the end, it was  _ your _ call. And when I let you go – when you lost your memories and I let you  go, I gave you the choice. When you agreed to Malkia, you didn’t let me argue.” He stepped away. “When you tied me up, you took away  _ my _ options. It’s not the same.”

Amir opened his mouth. Closed it. He looked away, tears in his eyes. “I guess it was right. You’ll never be safe with me.” He clenched his fists. “I don’t deserve you, after all.”

“Amir,  _ no _ .” Rupert took his hands. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that – I don’t like it when you run into things without talking to me first.”

“Because you’ll tell me not to.”

“ _ Yes! _ And then we can figure something else out together.” Rupert brushed Amir’s tears away and kissed his cheek. “Also, it’s not true. You deserve me. You deserve everything.”

Amir smiled tightly at Rupert. “ So do you.”

Rupert drew Amir close. They remained in each other’s arms for several minutes, holding each other tightly. “I won’t sacrifice myself anymore either,” Rupert finally conceded. “From now on, we’ll do everything together.”

“It’s going to take some work,” Amir breathed.

“I know.” Rupert rested his head against Amir’s. “But I’d rather work on it for the rest of my life than lose you again.”

Amir sniffled. “Okay.” He pulled away and wiped his eyes. “Did you want to go back inside?”

Rupert shook his head.

“Me neither.”

They sat down, their backs against the wall, Amir’s arm draped over Rupert’s shoulder and Rupert’s head under Amir’s chin. Rupert found Amir’s free hand. Their fingers intertwined.

“How long do you think it’ll take anyone to realize we’re gone?” Rupert asked.

“Everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time when I left, so probably a while.”

“Hi.”

They both looked over to see Wenceslaus in the doorway.

“Hey, buddy,” Rupert said. “What’s up?”

He shrugged. “I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“I thought you were playing with the other kids,” Amir said.

“Did something happen?” Rupert asked.

Wenceslaus shook his head. “I just wanted to find you guys.”

Rupert and Amir opened their arms and Wenceslaus came over to them. He got into Amir’s lap and accepted hugs from them both.

“What’re you doing out here, anyway?” he asked.

“We were just taking a break from the party. You can stay here with us if you want.”

“Yeah.” Wenceslaus got more comfortable and leaned back into Amir’s chest. Amir looked down at him, shocked. Rupert nudged him before putting his head on Amir’s shoulder. He felt Amir’s body relax. He wrapped one arm around Rupert’s back and put his other hand on Wenceslaus’s leg. “This place rocks.”

Rupert chuckled. “We’re glad you think so.” He looked up at Amir. They shared a smile and a soft kiss before turning to watch the sun vanish behind their kingdom.

So much had changed so quickly, and the ache in Rupert’s chest was still there, but it had quieted.

**_ This _ ** , he thought,  **_ this _ ** _ is our happy beginning. _


End file.
